USA 30 May. 06 ( Sh.M.Network) top U.S. official handling Somalia has been transferred from his job after criticising payments to warlords that are said to be fuelling some of Mogadishu's worst-ever fighting, diplomats said on Tuesday. Fellow analysts in the close-knit community of Somalia- watchers in Nairobi said the U.S. State Department transferred Michael Zorick, formerly Somali political affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, to the Chad embassy after he spoke out. | "And if you open your mouth again, there's an opening in Zimbabwe" |
The move exposes a rift inside the U.S. government on how to handle Somalia -- whether efforts to build peace should come before counter-terrorism -- and the effect Washington's perceived role has had in inflaming fighting there.
At least 320 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the anarchic city since February in battles between the warlords, who dubbed themselves the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, and Islamist militias.
"He really decided to take up the battle. He realised very well what he was doing," a Western diplomat who is close to Zorick and asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Various other diplomats involved with Somalia, including those from Washington's allies, have expressed frustration at U.S. aid to warlords which they say has undermined Somalia's weak interim government, seen as the best hope for peace there.
Zorick could not be reached for comment and e-mails sent to his State Department address, which had previously worked, were returned as undeliverable.
| Ouch! No e-mail means he's a non-person. Heh. |
| Kind of like "He's leaving to spend more time with his family"? |
Analysts say Washington's widely believed links with the warlords have had the contrary effect of rallying Islamist groups and increasing support for them among Somalis, who are not usually strong supporters of radical Islam. The analysts say it has also strengthened the influential Mogadishu Sharia courts -- which have brought a semblance of order to parts of the lawless country -- against the interim government.
| ..and Mussolini had the trains running on time |
Zorick was part of the peace process in Kenya to create the Somali government, formed in late 2004 in the 14th such attempt since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. The new administration has made little progress and stays in the south-central town of Baidoa because it is too weak to move to the capital. The pitched battles in Mogadishu have emphasised its lack of control.
The United States has never confirmed its support for the warlords, but has made clear it will work with anyone it considers an ally in its counter-terrorism fight. Ambassador Bellamy said last week the United States was being "wrongly blamed" for fighting in Somalia and should be credited for spending millions in aid and peace work there.
Washington has invested considerable military and intelligence resources in the Horn of Africa, starting with a base in Djibouti, and is known to operate in tandem with local security services and Ethiopia in particular. Somalia is a particular U.S. worry because of its total lawlessness, and the fact planners of the 1998 blasts at U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi and a 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya operated from there.